No shower at your office? No problem!

The shower at my workplace has recently been deep cleaned. I’m not suggesting that this has never happened before, but it was enough of a novelty that Facilities put up signs weeks before the event, alerting us to its imminent occurrence and asking us to remove any belongings.

I haven’t ventured into the shower room for literally years, so I have no belongings to retrieve. It was the mass of other people’s stuff that put me off – smelly, unwashed towels and festering t-shirts hanging from every available corner. I’m sure I once saw a pair of underpants in there.

It wasn’t a shower room you’d ever want to have a shower in, so I didn’t.

For some people, not being able to have a shower once they get to work is a deal-breaker when it comes to commuting by bike. Yet despite the lack of a useable shower, I’m one of a number of regular cyclists in my office. As we’ve shown, it is possible to cycle to work and still look (and smell!) presentable all day even without a shower. How? Here are a few ideas.

Bring a change of clothes

I’ve never found the lack of a shower a particular problem – I just bring a change of clothes with me, and get changed when I get to work. Clearly my colleagues – both my fellow cyclists and the ones who have to sit near me all day long – don’t think it’s a problem either, as I’ve never had any complaints from them.

The dress code where I work is fairly casual so it doesn’t matter if my clothes get a little creased on the way in. But if your job means you have to dress smartly, you could always do what a former colleague of mine did. He worked in corporate fundraising – basically his job was persuading big businesses to give the charity money – so he had to look smart. His solution? Keep a selection of suits and shirts in the office, rather than bringing them in every day.

Wet wipes

Wet wipes, baby wipes, any kind of wipes…

If it’s been a particularly sweaty ride – if it’s been one of those rare sunny days – then I’ll have a wipe down with some wet wipes when I get in. That, the clean clothes and a splash of deodorant is usually enough for me.

Use panniers, not a rucksack

I wouldn’t quite go as far as to say that switching from a backpack to panniers revolutionised my life – but it’s not far off the mark.

Sweaty back syndrome used to be a daily fact of life for me. Even in the dead of winter and even on the shortest rides. On a warm summer’s day I would arrive at work with the entire back of my t-shirt soaked through. It wasn’t pleasant.

And then I discovered panniers. These days I still sweat, but nowhere near as much as I used to.

The other advantage of panniers is that, if you invest in some good quality waterproof ones, they’ll also keep your stuff fresh and dry even in the pouring rain.

Cycle slowly

I have to admit I haven’t quite mastered this one yet – I’m far too impatient – but my colleague Kate has.

Kate cycles about as far as I do every day, yet manages not to be a sweaty mess when she arrives at work. Her secret? She rides at a much more leisurely pace than I do. I know this for a fact, as I often overtake her en route.

Such is Kate’s lack of sweatiness, she can cycle in the same clothes she then wears all day, without being smelly. This I can also vouch for, as I sit next to her.

Anything else?

I’m sure there’s something I’ve missed, so if you’ve got any other tips for how to stay fresh all day after commuting by bike, I’d love to hear them!

I just can’t get the hang of riding slowly. Even on a Boris bike I end up with whirling legs. I think it’s to do with the assertiveness required to ride our busy streets.
I often think I should get a Dutch style bike and *force* myself to ride slowly.
In the meantime, I’m the sweaty mess that needs a shower after hid commute !

Dutch bikes make superb commuters for other reasons too. Most have a dynamo in the front hub, so you can have BRIGHT permanently attached lights and never worry about them again: none of that batteries, recharging, clippy on and off nonsense. An enclosed chain and hub gears means less maintenance. They’re designed to survive the weather. And so on. It’s a virtuous circle.

I’ve also gone one step further than panniers and put a box on a front rack. So for an impromptu bit of shopping on the way home I don’t even need to remember my pannier.

My pace is way off that of the fastest, but I’m only five minutes behind over five central London miles; time they’ll spend getting changed.

“I just can’t get the hang of riding slowly….. think it’s to do with the assertiveness required to ride our busy streets.”

I have to disagree with you about that Simon. Speed is not the same as assertiveness. I cycle in a much more relaxed manner than I did before I got knocked off my bike by a hit-and-run driver 3 years ago – I’m a lot more easy going and don’t push myself on the road anything like I used to. However I’d say I do ride assertively. I take possession of the lane where need be, and will keep it if I think that’s what’s safe for me to do.

What I’ve noticed following this change in style are:

1 – I have far fewer near misses than I ever used to
2 – It doesn’t seem to have made much, if any difference to how soon I get to work.
3 – I’m a lot more relaxed and enjoy my cycling a lot more

My office lacks shower rooms so all the cyclists use the disabled toilets to change and freshen up. One tip – use a roll-on instead of a spray deodorant. I did the latter and set off the fire alarms, resulting in about 300 people being evacuated from the building. It didn’t go down well.

I now work 20 miles away instead of two: whatever pace I take, those inclines aren’t going away and more effort=sweat. I do carry a change of clothes in my panniers, and aerosols have been banned on our site for the same reason as Rob outlined.

My office has no showers, if I’m in a hurry I’ll take the road bike and simply change clothes when I get there, if I have a little more time I’ll just take my electric bike instead, it’s a lot slower than the roadbike but the near complete lack or exertion means you’re always presentable.

Merino wool base layer soaks up the sweat and doesn’t smell. Don’t buy the horrendously expensive ones sold by such companies as Rapha, go for M&S at one third of the price. Just as good except that they don’t come in flashy colours.

I wouldn’t rely on other people having not complained as proof you are doing enough to keep fresh on arriving at the office. Most of us are very british and the situation has to be pretty bad before people will face the embarrassment of actually saying something.

I leave trousers and shoes at work. Everyday I take in shirt and underware. I fold my shirt in half twice then lay on my boxers and socks and roll up tightly. This then fits into my waterproof gym bag which goes into my panniers.

On the subject of being smelly – only once in fifteen years at my workplace has anyone said anything to a malodourous colleague (there have been a few and it wasn’t from cycling), and it didn’t go down well.

3 times a week one of my 50 year old colleagues cycles the 15 miles over Lancashire hills to work and gets washed in the disabled toilets. About once a week I put my bike on the train to come in (6 miles cycling) and then cycle home. I feel flushed when I get in, so get washed. We do occasionally remind our colleagues that we’d like to be told if we don’t smell so good.

I use panniers on my ten mile commute. I start with everything on, but by the time I’ve covered a couple of miles I’m down to just one layer. The key is storage for clothes you take off. I also wind down the pace a bit when I’m within a couple of miles of the office. Although ten miles is quite a distance, using these two techniques mean I arrive sweat free more or less, but I do spray a deodourant underneath my t-shirt whilst I’m still outside, and then change when I go inside. No complaints so far.

Apologies for hijacking this blog to promote a petition, but I believe the audience would agree.

FYI I do actually have strong opinions about ‘to shower or not to shower’ at work, in particular I think we need to stop having such impractical dress codes. If we can wear comfortable practical clothes then getting sweaty on the way to work isn’t too much of a problem. I believe that even if people do get a bit sweaty and smelly, we should just get used to it. Would you prefer to live in a world where your colleagues sometimes have an odour, or one where 1000s of people die every year from their commute to work or school?

Anyway, please could you promote my Avaaz petition to have warning signs like on tobacco products put on cars interior and exterior.

I am going to cycle in tomorrow for the first time in ages. It’s a 17 mile trip in the ever windy Shetland and I am in the 50+ age group, riding a Moulton and a couple of stone overweight. For the first time in a long time the wind will be behind me, and at 25 – 30 mph it should be nearly a pleasure. Despite a short stop and snack in the 10 miles into the ride I have a real sugar crash and am wobbling all over the place when I get in. Perhaps I should just admit that I am too old and fat for this!!

We also have the fire alarm problem so I will have to see if there is a roll-on deo around the house somewhere. The highlight will be the girlies who have asked to see me in my lycra. I am going to srategically place a rather long Tesco Finest salami. That shoud frighten the life out of them!!

The first time you do it, you may find yourself out of energy at work, but do not let age or weight perturb you. My grandad is over 80 and he still cycles, maybe not 17 miles to work, but still. Moreover there are a lot of active tournaments for age groups like 50-60, 60-70, I think they are even going to start a 70+ tournament.

Weight isn’t that important when cycling unless your climbing, the most important thing is wind resistance and having a good bike. Now a Moutlon … hmm, that’s going to be tough, their good bikes but their designed for short trips from station to office. I’d suggest getting a road bike.

I have never showered at work and 8 miles is fair ride. Yes i perspire, a lot, but I cant see that this alone make me smell bad. I am a very clean person I put on clean clothes and shower every morning.
Only wearing natural fibers next to my skin helps enormously cotton wool and silk, and especially wool and silk just don’t hold smells like plastic clothes do.
I have never needed to use a deodorant in my entire life, just splash tiny of a nice perfume occasionally and not even every day and I have never had a complaint or comment ever.
Try it out, get rid of you plastic under garments and go for cotton and wool,

I ride 5 miles to work every day and it looks like I’m in the minority, as I always shower. I can’t imagine not showering – perhaps I am unusually sweaty…Nice tips here though. I always employ the baby wipe shower tip at festivals 🙂

I ride 8.5 miles each way and always become sweaty. Have to admit I always cycle fast because I am always nearly going to be late…
Although even at a more leisurely pace I still sweat, possibly to do with the hills. In winter time the most annoying thing is being in the cold room and waiting for the top to dry off naturally…carrying an extra top is possible but I don’t have any place to dry the wet one at school…the only consolation is that I do not bother others nr me as I don’t have BO and almost never needed deodorant!